Walter Smith yesterday warned those Rangers supporters whose refusal to stop
singing sectarian songs in Europe could see Uefa impose a ban on away fans –
and fine the club up to £100,000 – that if they persist with their behaviour
the impact on the club could be “drastic”.

When asked what he would say to fans who declared that by singing The Billy Boys – one of the proscribed songs – they were upholding the values of the club, Smith responded in the most direct terms he has yet employed. Speaking not only as the Ibrox manager, but also as a lifelong Rangers supporter, Smith replied: “I would say that when you have a great club with a great tradition, as Rangers have, people feel that that’s a part of it.

“That’s fine, but when there is a reaction, as there has been over the past few years against those traditions, then the people who do sing them – and I would stress that I don’t think it’s the majority of the Rangers support who sing them – have got to take into account that in the modern era it’s not acceptable for them to do so.

“And therefore the club is going to suffer quite drastic consequences if they don’t stop. So I would ask them – considering the problems the club have – to take that into account and to stop singing songs that are offensive at the present moment.

“I’ve sung songs. We’ve been there. I’ve been on the terraces as a youngster. I’ve done that – but I certainly wouldn’t put myself in a position to do that now. And that’s what I would ask supporters to do.

“When I was a Rangers supporter it was 50 years ago. I started going in my early teens and when I sang the songs I had no realisation of what they meant — but I sang them.

“That was regarded as part of the traditions but it didn’t mean anything to me at the time and it doesn’t mean anything to me now.

“A lot of supporters look upon as a traditional aspect of the club, but it’s no longer acceptable therefore they shouldn’t do it, because it’s affecting the club.”

Smith, nearing the end of his final season as manager, also expressed dismay that 22 years after Rangers signed Maurice Johnston – a Roman Catholic and former Celtic player – the club has not been able to surmount the ultimate barrier to acceptance of changed times amongst the unreconstructed section of the support.

“It’s the final hurdle,” said Smith. “Everyone told us years ago that if we signed a Catholic then that would be the end of the sectarian aspect of Rangers Football Club, but they [the diehard fans] weren’t happy with that and are not happy with that aspect of it.

“We sign players of all religions and the club has worked extremely hard in recent seasons, in the background, to make sure that we try to eradicate the sectarian singing, but obviously it’s not worked.

“The biggest solution would be that if supporters love the club and they want the club to have the proper image in modern times then we have to give up something. We have to give up the singing of sectarian songs. That’s just the way it is.”

Nor was Smith in the mood to fall back on the defence – cited by some amongst the Rangers support – that the club is being victimised by activists who monitor the Ibrox fans’ behaviour with the specific intent of using it in complaints to football and civil authorities.

“Whether we’re picked on or not can be anybody’s or everybody’s opinion,” he said. “What we know is that whether we’re being picked on or not, we’re going to have to do something about it.

“Everybody who has Rangers’ interest at heart – the people who run the club, the people who support the club – has to turn round and say, ‘We don’t make the rules but we have to follow them’.

“Just now the sectarian aspect of the songs is being picked out and we have to do something about it. If you are saying Rangers are the only club to cause Uefa a problem, whether it be sectarian or racist or whatever, that would be wrong.

“They are not – but there comes a time where you have to look at your own aspect of it and there is no doubt that is what we will have to do at the present moment. I would hope that Rangers supporters who are sensible in what they are doing will come together and help the club.

“It is not something they are going to be able to shy away from. If it continues, the consequences must become greater.

“I would have thought that would be obvious to anyone. At the moment, it is maybe about missing two games, but if it doesn’t stop and we don’t put an end to it, what is the next one?

“Banned from Europe altogether for a specific period of time? That would end an income stream that obviously helps the club be competitive in a domestic sense never mind at European level.”

Amid all this – and Smith spent the better part of an hour talking through the controversy in his pre-match briefings – it was easy to forget that a championship still hangs in

the balance and that to remain in contention, Rangers have to win against the bottom club at Hamilton tomorrow.

Lee McCulloch could make it for Rangers, but is more likely to appear in the midweek meeting with Aberdeen at Pittodrie. Martin Canning and Mark McLaughlin are both suspended for Accies.

The short journey to New Douglas Park may come as a relief to Rangers in more ways than one. Hamilton is mentioned in one of the most popular fans’ songs – not on the proscribed list.